Snowflakes and Tea
by Sweet Darkling
Summary: 3 years after Harry finally defeated Voldemort, he faces some other personal demons - starting with Cho. Innocently sitting in a cafe with Hermione, Ron and Ginny, he looks up to realise that Cho is in the doorway, and he wonders what will happen. D/P R
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: The characters and things that seem familiar are owned by JKR. Other things are created by me (although they may be influenced by other stuff, but nothing consciously that I can think of). I'm not making any money from this (unfortunately), so enjoy.

Snowflakes and Tea

Prologue

Harry was sitting in a café that had recently opened in Diagon Alley. It was the middle of February and although it was snowing gently outside, it was pleasantly warm inside where he had been sitting with Hermione, Ron and Ginny for the last hour. He had long since stopped paying attention to what was being said. Hermione and Ron's argument had become a familiar, comforting background noise that he was used to, and Ginny rarely said anything. That was why when Ginny spoke, Harry's inattention ended abruptly and he turned to face her.

"What?" He said, and he cringed because his voice sounded groggy as if he had just woken up. Ginny just smiled sweetly, and asked him if he wanted another drink again. He shook his head and went back to a lack of attention, his mind wondering between how big Teddy had gotten, how scary Andromeda was and wondering how he was doing in his Auror training.

It was in the middle of this confused jumble of thoughts that Hermione ceased arguing. Ron, always slower to pick up on these subtleties, continued ranting in his oblivious way but Harry followed Hermione's line of sight and came to the front door of the café. The door had opened, allowing some snow to float inside and framed by the doorway was Cho, her hair whipping around her face because of the wind. All at once, Harry felt something twisting and writhing inside his stomach uncomfortably.

It was a few moments later that Ginny noticed both Hermione and Harry staring at something. She turned around and immediately narrowed her eyes, curling her fingers into a vicious claw. As Ginny watched her, Cho turned around, laughing. Her eyes seemed to fall immediately on the table at which they sat, eyes widening in surprise. Pleasant or unpleasant, Harry couldn't decide, but he felt his face growing warm all the same. Just as suddenly, he turned pale when he saw Michael Corner enter the café. It may have been three years since Voldemort had died, but he still despised Michael. It was obvious, however, that Cho didn't share this dislike of Michael. If her laughter and their comfortable stance was anything to go by, they were very close indeed. A scowl settled on Harry's face as he thought about this.

The others weren't happy to see Cho and Michael either. Ron had finally realised that nobody was paying attention to him, and he had turned around to find his baby sister's former boyfriend standing in the doorway. His old over-protective feelings were roused and he was more than ready to hex Michael into oblivion on the least provocation. In fact, he was tempted to do it even if there was no provocation. Hermione, instead, had focussed on Cho and realised quickly that there was still some sort of tension between Harry and Cho. It was extremely unlikely that it was attraction and far more likely to do with the awful way they had ended things and had never patched up afterwards.

'_It would be so much better if they just talked to each other and became friends again_', Hermione thought crossly, but she wasn't willing to invite Cho over. She wasn't sure if it should come from Harry and Cho themselves and this might be pushing. That, and Ginny would probably curse her beyond recognition if she called Cho over.

Ginny and Harry had resumed dating the day after Harry had finally killed Voldemort, and Hermione had been ecstatic about it. It was very slowly and almost subconsciously that she began to realise that maybe they weren't the best couple in the world. This was about a year later, and when she first became conscious about this feeling, she tried to analyse why this could be. She began to observe them very closely – noticing how Ginny seemed close at hand whenever Harry talked to a girl. She realised how Harry talked far more to her and Ron than Ginny. This had taken her quite a few months to slowly understand but after she had realised this, she was at a stand-still. What in the world was she supposed to do? A year and a half later, she still had no idea what to do. Ron was too defensive of his sister to discuss it seriously with Hermione, Ginny got very aggressive about it and Harry, as usual, was oblivious to it. It was this aggressive side to Ginny that made Hermione hesitate to call Cho over.

She bit her lip, but as it turned out, she didn't have to do anything. Cho nudged Michael and nodded towards the table they were all sitting at. Michael's smile seemed to instantaneously disappear as he saw them. He turned to Cho, as if looking to her for guidance, but walked with assurance behind Cho as she made her way towards the table. Hermione's hand tightened around her wand unconsciously, but had she realised it, she would have been unable to say what she would have used the wand for.

Cho stopped by the table and smiled a small, tight, nervous smile. "Hi." She said, with a familiar Scottish twang. "How are you guys doing?"

If it was possible, then Ginny's eyes definitely had a murderous sparkle in them. She was too busy obsessing over Cho to notice that Michael was just as obsessed with Ginny, but Ron wasn't. His ears turned slightly red as he tried to resist the urge to hex Michael. Nobody seemed ready to reply, so Hermione spoke, her voice higher pitched than normal. "Oh, we're all...you know...good." There was a silent pause before Hermione spoke again. "So...how are you?"

"I'm good too." Cho looked uncertain and nervous. She glanced at Harry and then looked away swiftly. She turned to Michael. "We should really find a table to sit at. Bye." Another nervous smile and Cho walked away with Michael. Hermione thought that she heard Harry release a big breath – almost a sigh – but she couldn't be sure. She continued to stare at where Cho had stood. Things she hadn't noticed at the time seemed to be coming into focus. Her nose was bright pink from the cold. Her lips were dry and chapped, probably from the cold weather. There were snowflakes in her hair, thrown into relief by the black colour of her hair. But mostly, she realised that Cho had been nervous and awkward but she had also been mature and brave. Rather than avoiding the situation, she had tried to face it. '_Without much of a result_', admitted Hermione, but it was more than Harry had been willing to do. She smiled suddenly. There was a stifled tension in the air, but at least Cho was trying to clear up her part of the stifled tension. It was a start.

Author's note: I wrote this as a challenge/deal. On , a fan of Harry/Cho told me that if I wrote a Harry/Cho for them, they would write a Draco/Pansy for me, so of course I agreed. I feel like this prologue is stinted, but I'm going to take my time over the next chapter. I hope to make this multi-chaptered but I'm not entirely sure how long it will be. It will be a Harry/Cho though, but I want to delve into the other characters a lot more, including Ginny. (I have an idea about why she might be possessive and insecure.)

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's note: I'm not really very happy with this chapter, but it's setting up the scene for some other characters. Please review this chapter; I'd really appreciate any constructive criticism at all. If you think the plot's moving too slowly, or nothing much is happening, or maybe too much conversation, please let me know.  
Aside from that, woo hoo! I managed to sneak in some Pansy in there – I just have to sneak in some Draco, and then, some Pansy/Draco will be ripe.

Also, I don't own Harry Potter. Enjoy. 

**Snowflakes and Tea**

**Chapter II**

It took only a matter of a few seconds for Hermione to decide upon a course of action. Before they had walked more than three steps from the doors of the café, Hermione had squealed, hurriedly mentioned forgotten gloves, and rushed back into the café. Perhaps it was the warmth inside the café that caused the faint flush on Hermione's cheeks.

Quickly scanning the café, she made her way confidently to the table at which Cho and Michael sat. Completely oblivious of having interrupted a private conversation Michael was having with Cho, she said, the flush in her cheeks deepening, "I just wanted to say I'm so glad you're trying to sort out the tension between you and Harry. I know he's a bit of an ass but I'm sure you'll get everything sorted out finally." With a bright smile, she left just as abruptly as she had arrived, remaining oblivious to the look of disgust and disdain that had momentarily crossed Cho's face.

It took longer than a moment, however, for Cho to calm down. Though she had removed her instinctive look of disdain automatically and out of habit, it was harder for her to recover from her feelings at what she considered to be Hermione's patronising words. Her hands were clenching deeply, fingernails digging into her palms but she didn't notice this, just as she didn't notice from the silence that Michael hadn't resumed their conversation. Michael had, in fact, respectfully kept quiet; he had himself been very annoyed at Hermione's interruption but he had a shrewd feeling that Cho had other, more personal, grudges against Hermione, which had been rekindled.

Trying for a light note, Cho spoke, pushing thoughts of Hermione away. "Sorry Michael. What were you saying?"

Michael frowned into his cup of tea. When he spoke, it was slowly and deliberately. "I saw Padma the other day."

Had Cho been less distracted by Hermione's rude interruption, she may have noticed the unduly stressed words. Instead, she raised her eyebrows slightly before taking a sip of her own cup of tea, savouring the excessive sugar in it. "How's she doing?"

Michael continued to frown into his tea. Again, he seemed to weigh each word carefully. "She was fine." He said abruptly, and seemed unsure of how to continue.

Cho stared at Michael, perplexed, bestowing her entire attention to him now. "If she's fine...then...why all this...tension?" She asked him slowly. She watched him bite his lower lip in agitation.

"She was talking to Pansy Parkinson."

Cho blinked in surprise. It seemed out of character for Michael to be so mysterious about such an ordinary occurrence. Maybe the three years she hadn't seen him in had changed him? Maybe, but that was unlikely. She opened her mouth to speak but closed it again, before any words had slipped out of her mouth. She had feeling that silence would serve her best right now. There was clearly something bothering him and she was clueless as to what it was. Her silence was eventually rewarded.

"She's such a traitor." Michael suddenly spat out. Cho was startled by the venom in his voice, but before she could say anything, Michael spoke again. "Padma's supposed to be one of us. She _was_ one of us." He stared moodily into his cup, still full of tea. "She's changed."

Cho thought it was safe to speak, so she tentatively asked Michael what happened. She was still in the dark about what was really bothering Michael so much.

"She was sitting with that Parkinson bitch." He said resentfully. The name sounded familiar to Cho, and after a few seconds, she recalled the short, annoying Slytherin, and muttered something incoherent but sympathetic sounding. Pansy was annoying, but it didn't explain why Michael was so annoyed with Padma. She was starting to get curious now, and she pushed thoughts of Hermione and annoying Gryffindors out of her mind. She remained silent and again, it was rewarded. "I don't know why she's still friends with that cow! She's such a foul, evil bitch; DeathEater and all that."

"Was she really?" Cho interrupted Michael, surprised. It seemed unlikely that Padma would remain friends with her if she really was a DeathEater and she knew that Michael was prone to exaggeration. It seemed like it had been an exaggeration too, since Michael was now scowling at her.

"She wasn't convicted, if that's what you're asking." He told her shortly. "But as if her sentiments were any different. You heard how she wanted to just hand Harry over to V-Voldemort."

Cho opened her mouth to argue against it but thought better of it. It had been three long years since she had seen Michael, and she didn't want to get into an argument with him, especially over some girl she didn't care two knuts about. She tried to think of a way of changing the topic but Michael spoke again, before she could. "She's changed." He removed his stare from his teacup and focussed it on Cho instead. "She really has. She was never like that before." Cho wasn't sure what to say. She hadn't known Padma that well at school; she had been in the year below and they had never talked to each other much beyond the usual hi's and bye's. "I can't believe she shouted at me."

Cho felt her pity stir. Michael's eyes held a sea of hurt before he looked down into his cooled tea. She asked sympathetically "What happened?", hoping that Michael will feel better if he unburdened himself of some of the things that had hurt him.

"I'm really close to Padma." He began before correcting himself. "I _was_ really close to Padma." He sipped some cold tea before continuing. "I always knew that she used to be friends with the Parkinson bitch but half the time, it looked like they hated each other. They always used to go out of their ways to insult each other and taunt each other and they were pretty spiteful when it came to this kind of stuff." His voice sounded reminiscent now. "I know Parvati hated Parkinson and so did Padma." This was said defiantly, as if he was trying to convince himself. "I just don't understand why she'd be sitting with that bitch and then shouting at me. _I'm_ her friend, not that cow!"

Some of the confusion was lifting for Cho. Warily, she tried to work out what happened really, without jumping to conclusions. That was always a bad idea when it came to Ravenclaws – and Slytherins, for that matter. Michael and Padma used to be close – she wondered momentarily just _how_ close they really were but it seemed irrelevant at this point. And Padma probably hasn't seen Michael in three years either, unless she went to visit him personally. Again, she wondered just _how_ close Michael and Padma had been... And now she shouted at him? And she was talking to Pansy Parkinson, which bothers Michael a lot. So...Pansy Parkinson was part of the problem. Did they argue _about_ Pansy Parkinson? This opened up a lot of possibilities too. Had Michael insulted Pansy and Padma defended her? Had Michael called Pansy a DeathEater and Padma defended her? What if Padma was the offensive one? But if she was, why would she shout at Michael? Maybe she was being completely sexist and unfairly blaming it on Michael? She looked closely at him, moodily staring at his cup of tea again, and sighed inside. Men were such idiots.

"Why don't you talk to her about it? Sort the mess out?" She asked, wondering if she would have followed her own advice and shrewdly guessing that she wouldn't have.

"_She's_ the one who shouted at me. _She_ should be the one to apologise." Michael snapped, querulously.

Cho rolled her eyes. Men were such complete idiots. "Michael, that's not what friendship's all about. If you really care about her, you should talk to her about it. I bet she's sorry."

Cho narrowed her eyes as Michael muttered something fairly inaudible, but she managed to catch something that sounded suspiciously like Marietta. This was dangerous ground and she wouldn't extend amnesty to anyone, not even Michael. She forced her tightened lips to open and take a sip of the cold tea.

"I wish people were more loyal." Michael muttered audibly, misery resounding in every word, his mind dwelling with unacknowledged longing. "Like Ginny."

Cho automatically stiffened. She really didn't have any right or any reason to have a grudge against the Gryffindor but she was human enough to still feel some sort of irrational resentment towards the girl who had started dating her ex.

Michael, having noticed the slight stiffening and the thinning of the lips tried to think of some other topic to discuss. In a lot of ways, what he liked about Cho was not only how she said what she thought, but how she showed it expressively in her features and her body language. Unable to come up with any topic, he fell back on discussing work, the only subject worse being the weather. His lips twitched as he saw Cho's eyes light up. It was easy to see that she was passionate about it, unlike so many other people.

"Oh, it's going so well. I'm going to the Ministry to discuss funding for my research project. The project has _so_ much potential; the preliminary evidence suggests that we're on the right track but we just need to make sure we stay on the right track, because it's so easy to mistake what seems like an anomaly as a positive step, don't you think?" Cho stopped gushing, blushing slightly, as she looked at Michael's amused face. She knew she got too caught up in her work – Marietta stressed this to her every single night – but she never could seem to stop. She had worked so hard on it and with the meeting in the Ministry in a few days it was all she could think about. Michael, on the other hand, was in a completely different field and had no interest in her topic. "How about you? Have your three years of travelling taught you anything new?" Her voice was light and teasing. She was surprised to see Michael's face becoming sombre.

"You'd be surprised at how much I've changed in these three years." And although Michael knew he was talking to Cho, it suddenly felt like he was talking to himself – to the person he had been three years ago. "I've seen so much..." He felt a little overwhelmed by all that he really had seen, and his voice trailed off. "It's beyond...anything you can imagine. It makes you want to do things you never thought of doing before or being before."

"You're really passionate about it, aren't you?"

Cho's soft, pleasant voice broke Michael out of his reverie. He blinked a few times, maybe to clear his head off the memories of the past, and looked at Cho. "Yeah, you could say that." He said a little drily; he didn't think Cho really knew what real passion was. She loved her research and her work, and she was passionate about it. But passion about other things...other people...was so different, he thought wryly. No, she didn't know what passion was really all about. Some others, on the other hand..."Cho..." He began abruptly, but unsure how to continue.

"Yeah, what is it?" She smiled sweetly at him, her voice curious. But she wouldn't like what he wanted to ask.

"Never mind," He said uncomfortably. He didn't want to tread on thin ice with her but she insisted, so he spoke slowly, trying to find an inoffensive way of asking the question. "What is...how...I mean..." He floundered, but at her questioning gaze, he spoke again. "What's there between you and Harry? What was Hermione talking about?" He saw by how her face became nothing more than a blank mask that he hadn't said the right thing.

"There's nothing between us." Her words were chipped and hard.

"But what was Hermione saying?" He persisted. Now that he had offended her, did it matter really, if he offended her more?

"I don't know what she was saying." Her words were biting, but they became colourless as she spoke again. "I've got to leave now, but it was lovely seeing you again. See you soon." She got up, leaving half a cup of overly-sugared tea matching her falsely saccharine smile. She turned around and walked away with a small wave, not looking back once. Michael went back to surveying his own cup of disgustingly cold tea. He hoped that he hadn't offended her too much and he hoped that Harry would die by falling off a flying carpet.


End file.
